How Designer Myra Hoefer's Home Has Changed Over 20 Years

In the heart of wine country, Myra Hoefer has transformed an old supermarket building and an office space into two elegant houses, both with an easy California feel. House Beautiful featured those homes in 1993, 2000, and 2012. Here, we take a look at how the designer's style has evolved.

Living Area

Living Area

1993: Myra Hoefer and her family lived in a big white loft apartment in a 1940s Healdsburg, California, building that was originally erected as a supermarket by Purity Stores. The loft had an open-floor plan with as few walls as possible. "We don't expect other people to understand this kind of unconventional open space right away, but we find it very comfortable and it showcases what we both do," she said.

2000: Hoefer was working out of her design studio in a 1859 subdivided, two-story brick box. When both floors of the building became available, Hoefer moved her whole family into the space and relocated her office to behind the house. "After ten years in my loft, we would have real rooms," she says. "There were doors and my son could have his own retreat."

2012: Twelve years later, Hoefer redesigned her home's interiors with a lighter touch — less drama, more peace. It's a softer, more refined version of French, and even more romantic than before. "It's all so intimate," Hoefer says. "The house makes its own magic."

Kitchen Dining

Kitchen Dining

1993: Although the former supermarket space was urbane with few walls and skylights, Hoefer added country touches like bowls and vases of fruits, vegetables, and flowers that flourish in the fertile grounds of surrounding wine country valleys. The kitchen's dining area had a pine table, wicker chairs, wine-country millstones, and a Ron Mann Designs lamp.

2000: Hoefer's next home still had a country-like and eclectic feel, but now with a touch of old-world charm and European elegance. In the breakfast room off the kitchen, she added interesting pieces such as a turn-of-the century plan d'oiseau (bird's-eye map) of Paris, a peg-pointed Alsatian table, and a coal-burner tripod.